Politics & Government
Special Town Meeting: New Harris Field Turf To Be Paid With Existing Bond
Delaying demolitions, a new Harris Field and shoveling your snow-bound sidewalk will be articles decided in late October.
A decision on using an existing line of debt to refurbish Belmont High School's heavily-used athletic surface at Harris Field will be decided when Belmont's Town Meeting gathers for a special meeting that is tentatively scheduled for late October, according to Town Administrator David Kale at Monday's Board of Selectmen meeting.
A new Harris Field joins a town-wide Demolition Delay of more than 210 "significant" homes and a bylaw requiring homeowners to shovel snow from the sidewalk in front of their residences that will be voted on by the approximately 290 representatives in a yet-to-be-determined date in late October, said Kale.
Kale told the Selectmen that an request for proposal was issued a fortnight ago for a landscaping firm to determined the amount of work required and cost to replace both the supporting padding and the synthetic Turf field at Harris Field adjacent to the Viglirolo Skating Rink.
The $75,000 to pay for the work was approved at Town Meeting this past spring as part of its approval of the town's Capital Budget.
The field, which is the home to Belmont High School varsity sports teams including football, soccer, field hockey, lacrosse and the Rugby club as well as youth sports and amateur activities, is currently in an advanced threadbare state after being laid in 2002.
School athletic officials have said that evidence shows that a less-than professional laying of the padding has sped up the deterioration of the Turf artificial field which currently will bulge up into ripples or waves.
"The cost estimate needs to be available by Oct. 15 so it can be approved by the Warrant Committee (the financial watchdog for the Town Meeting) and Capital Budget," said Kale.
Kale said that if the cost estimate is approved by the review committees and Town Meeting, the project – some estimates in the past reached into the high six figures – will be paid for by continuing to use current town debt that is scheduled to end in fiscal year 2015.
That debt, used to take out a bond to pay for the replacement of Belmont High School's classroom univent system, will now continue.
Since that debt originated from an allocation from the Capital Budget budget and approved by the 2010 Town Meeting, the town is not required to seek a town-wide debt exclusion vote for the field's repairs.
Kale said if approved, the town will have a jump on other communities in hiring a firm to replace the field which will take place beginning in June 2014 with a completion date in August 2014 before the beginning of the fall sports season.
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